


Maybe Captain Levi Just Needs a Hug

by CookieMaster



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Backstory, Canon-Typical Violence, Child Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Eren and Levi are Dorks, Feels, Gen, M/M, Platonic Relationships, Strong Language, Time Travel, also cute, canonverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-26 21:22:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20748974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieMaster/pseuds/CookieMaster
Summary: When Eren said he wanted to know more about Levi, he was hoping he’d get his answers from the captain. Not from a tiny brat with a bad attitude. If he had known this was how life was going to grant his wish, he would’ve just asked for a day off instead.A story about time travel, friendship and constipation.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Day 4 of Ereri Week 2019. The prompt is 'Time Travel'. 
> 
> This is an idea I've had for some time and finally got the courage to write it down. I've never written a fanfic before this and honestly it was a struggle, but somehow I powered through and well..here it is. And I'm actually kind of proud of myself for finishing it lol.
> 
> Thankyou ererievents on tumblr for hosting this event and thankyou everyone on discord who helped me, gave me guidance and motivated me to do this. Special thanks to my irl friend too who I kept bugging about this, you know who you are. I really don't think I could have finished without you guys.
> 
> Love you all.

_Why am I here?_

_For what purpose?_

It wasn’t uncommon for Eren Yeager to find himself lost in such introspection. But nothing ignited his existential crisis more than cleaning day.  
  
_Seriously, what am I doing here?_  
  
There were so many other things to worry about now. His friends were the ones that caused the breach in the wall and he didn’t know why, Historia was royalty and Eren had eaten his own dad. With the constant crazy developments in his life it was difficult for Eren to concentrate his mind on tasks as mundane as cleaning. Yet concentrate he must.

Broom in tow Eren opened the door before him. A single, small window lit the room with just about enough sunlight to make out the surroundings. Dozens of well-organized boxes were stacked on wooden shelves and the floor. Boxes of spare parts for ODM gear, old blades, faulty equipment, tools, cleaning supplies, stationery and papers. Clearly a lot of effort had been put in to make sure everything was in the right place and easy to find. It made him not want to move anything around. But there was dust. A lot of dust.

This morning at breakfast Levi had announced that it would be Eren’s duty to clean the storage room. The room was hardly ever in use and would often be neglected whenever there wasn’t enough time to get to it. It had been collecting dust for weeks now, maybe even months. Levi decided he’d had enough of the sloppy cleaning of his new squad and today they would spruce up every nook and cranny of the base, even the storage room.

“And it just had to be me.” Eren felt slightly offended that he put the most effort in cleaning, yet he still ended up with the most difficult room. It may be that Captain Levi trusted him to do the best job, but it felt more like a punishment.

Eren hunched over and started dusting the floor, trying his best to avoid hitting the piles of boxes around. He probably should’ve moved them but was too afraid of messing up their organization. Also, he just really didn’t feel like it.  
  
“Oi, you call that dusting?”

Eren’s body shot up, heart racing and arms in mid salute before he stopped thinking the situation didn’t really require for a formal greeting, they had just spoken a few minutes ago after all. There was only one person who could get him so jittery and nervous.  
  
“Sorry Captain,” he muttered. Levi stepped in the room. He was wearing a cloth mask and rubber gloves, a spray bottle of his special cleaning liquid holstered to his belt and both a broom and a mop in his hands. He looked like he was ready for battle. Eren jokingly called it ‘omni-directional cleaning gear’. He thought it was funny. He also never told anyone.

“You can’t clean anything in here unless you move these boxes around” Levi said as he picked up a pile of them. “I can help put them back, I remember where they go, move the rest of these boxes while I get started on that window.”  
  
“Yes sir.” Without wasting a second Eren began lifting the boxes out of the way. Looks like Levi was going to help him clean the room. Eren wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or worried. The more he thought about it, Levi wasn’t particularly frightening. Eren already knew what it felt like to be beaten to a pulp by Humanity’s Strongest, but it wasn’t as if Levi loomed over him constantly with the threat to be violent every time he messed up. A glare would be enough to signal when he wasn’t amused, though a lot of times he just ignored things. On top of that there were the numerous occasions where Levi seemed to try and cheer Eren up, in his own strange ways.

Yet despite knowing all this Eren couldn’t help being anxious around him. It’s like there was an invisible wall around him which no one had permission to cross. Whenever Levi was there Eren had trouble forming his words and would try hard to not say or do something stupid.

_Perhaps, it’s love?_  
  
“Hey Eren, after this go outside and clean this bird shit from the windows, they diarrhea’d all over the damn thing and it’s disgusting.”  
  
_Nope, it’s not love._

“Yes sir.” Eren responded trying not to make his irritation obvious. For a while they continued in silence until Levi spoke again. “Newspaper is really good for cleaning windows if you don’t have anything proper with you; it doesn’t leave streaks or scratches.”  
  
Eren’s ears perked up at the sound of this. “Also, not just any newspaper will do, you have to use the kind that doesn’t leave ink that stains, need to be careful about that”  
  
“Right sir.” Eren smiled. Levi always did this, bestowing him with nuggets of cleaning wisdom like some sort of weird sanitation fortune cookie. He wasn’t sure if Levi just assumed that Eren was interested in cleaning as much as he was, or if he just didn’t care. Maybe it was an old person thing. But this side of Levi amused Eren. It almost felt like he was trying to be Eren’s friend. Though Eren wasn’t sure if Levi wanted him to be his friend in return, if that made any sense.

He recalls of how he used to idolize Levi and how he would dream of having Levi take him under his wing. He didn’t exactly turn out to be like what Eren expected, but the admiration did stay. Somehow it pleased Eren to learn things from Levi, whether it was what to do when faced with an abnormal titan or how to get rid of the crusty stains at the bottom of pots.  
  
“Also, white vinegar is the best for cleaning solution, compared to other types of vinegar. But sometimes it can be too strong, so you have to dilute it with water.”  
  
“Right sir.” Eren made a mental of note of that as he began reaching for the boxes on the higher shelves. But while he’s learnt a lot from Levi, he hasn’t really learnt much about Levi. He never said it, but it felt like he didn’t want people getting too close to him. Eren wondered if he could get him to talk about himself more, would the barrier he felt between them also be broken.

_I wonder what his past was like, _Eren pondered. He already knew Levi grew up in the underground, but was unaware of the details. Apparently that Kenny guy was also involved somehow. How was Levi as a kid? Was he always like this or was he completely different? What were his parents like? Did he have any dreams or aspirations? 

_I want to know more, _Eren thought, _I wonder if it would be okay to just ask?_

“Hey Captain, can I ask you something?”  
  
“Eren be careful!”

_Huh?_

Before he knew it, he was on the ground and a box of faulty ODM gear parts fell on his head. The pain was intense, and his ears were ringing. He could barely make out a faint voice  
  
“Hey! Yeager! Wake up! Are you okay? Eren!”

And then black.

\---

When Eren finally came to, he was in a place far filthier than the storage room. It was damp and smelt like sewage. It was also too dark to see; he wasn’t entirely sure if his eyes were open. But he felt something. Something reaching in his pockets, searching his waist, his neck. _Something_ grabbed onto _something_ around his neck. Then suddenly his neck felt bare. What was missing?  
  
“The key..” Eren muttered  
_  
Wait…the key!_

Eren shot up from the ground just in time to catch a glimpse of the thief that ran away with the key to his father’s basement. A scrawny little kid in worn out khaki pants, black t shirt, grey hood, and dark hair styled in an undercut that looked a bit too familiar.

The kid was fast and soon almost out of sight. Still dizzy from the impact to his head, Eren got up and clumsily started to follow. He could figure out where he was later, first he needed to get that key back.

Eren ran through the dark alleys with the occasional gaslight lamp helping him find his way. Surrounding him were dilapidated homes and the smell of cigarette smoke. There was no mistake, somehow, he had ended up in the underground. With no sky above his head it was hard to tell what time of the day it was, but Eren assumed it must be late at night as there weren’t many people up and about. It was quiet, other than the sound of dry heaving from an old man trying to get some sleep on the street and Eren’s own feet hitting the pavement.

It didn’t take Eren long to catch up with the little thief. As he turned the next corner, he saw the kid stop before a man in tattered clothes. He towered over the kid. Eren figured he was about as tall as Commander Erwin, and maybe even more muscular. He didn’t look very friendly either. Eren decided to keep his distance for now.

_Alright, don’t make any rash decisions. Remember what you’ve learned during the missions. Calmly assess the situation first._

“What you got for me, kid?” the man asked with a hoarse voice.

“Nothing for you, outta my way!” the kid spat back. Eren couldn’t hear the conversation from where he stood but the boy seemed visibly furious and reached for something in his pocket. A weapon of some sort?  
  
“Do you have any idea how much money you owe me, kid?”  
  
“I don’t owe you anything!”  
  
“Do you have any idea how much money your _mother_ owed me? I put a roof over both your heads, my pal and I gave you a nice little room at our brothel and that whore barely brought in any customers. Now I’m here to collect what’s rightfully mine and this is how you thank me?”

“You take that back!” the boy revealed a dagger from his back pocket and plunged forward aiming for the man’s leg. His arm however was stopped midair as the older one squeezed it till the knife fell from his hands. He then grabbed the kid from his neck and lifted him up into the air. “That same old trick isn’t gonna work on me a second time, you bastard child.” The child struggled to pull away the large fingers from his throat, but the grip only got tighter and he began to choke.

_Screw it I’m kicking someone’s ass_

“Hey!” Eren shouted as he ran towards the two “Let him go you big oaf! Yeah, I’m talking to _you_, meathead!”

“Oh? Did you bring a friend with you?” the man mused. The child on the other hand was wide eyed and perplexed. The man dropped the kid on the ground and slowly made his way towards Eren. “I guess I’ll start with you then.” That was the last thing he said before he felt a hard jab to his stomach and his head in a lock, slowly suffocating and finally losing consciousness.

_Annie was way harder than that, guess all the training really did pay off. _

Pleased with his handiwork Eren turned to the kid who stood staring at the scene still seemingly bewildered. After calming down Eren realized that his head was still hurting, a lot. The ringing in his ears returned and an all too familiar dizziness began creeping up his senses.  
  
“Not again,” he groaned before collapsing to the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

This time when Eren woke, it was to the sound of a kettle whistling. He was lying on a mattress draped in an old blanket. A warm glow from the other side of the room caught his attention. As the whistling stopped his ears began picking up the crackling of fire against wood, the smell of light smoke in the air. The kid from before walked towards him with a metal tray. He froze when he saw Eren had woken up and stood there staring for a while before he decided it was alright to sit down next to him. He placed the tray before Eren. Its contents: two pieces of bread, a teapot and two chipped teacups that had their handles missing.  
  
“Eat.” The young boy spoke. His voice was quiet, almost like a whisper. It felt like he was giving an order, but it sounded meek rather than intimidating. He didn’t wait for Eren to start and began hungrily devouring his piece of bread, choosing to swallow quickly instead of savoring the taste.  
  
Upon closer inspection, Eren felt this kid looked very much like his captain. He had the same hairstyle and similar pale skin. His eyes were the same colour as well, though much wider and didn’t have as many bags beneath them. It was jarring, but also amusing. _If Mikasa were here she’d probably say, “I didn’t think he could get any smaller”. _Eren chuckled to himself at the thought.  
  
“Are you just going to stare at me or are you going to eat something?” the boy asked, this time with a much firmer tone. “Sorry, you just look like someone I know.” Eren replied. The boy didn’t react much to that and went back to eating.

“Listen, kid.” Eren began “Where am I?”. The boy ignored the question as he gobbled down another bite.  
  
“Hey, I know you can hear me.” Once again no response.  
  
“You could at least answer my questions. You know since I saved your life from that guy that nearly made you piss your pants- “  
  
“He did not!” the boy yelled as he slammed his fists on the tray, toppling over the teacups. “S-sorry.” he said with teeth clenched as he placed the cups upright again.  
  
“You could at least thank me.”  
  
“That’s what the bread and tea is for, appreciate it, there’s not a lot to go around.”

Eren sighed and picked up a piece of bread. He nibbled a small bite, it felt soggy and tasted stale. But the boy in front of him ate it up like it was a gift from the heavens. Eren needed answers, at least the boy was talking to him now. Once again, he tried.  
  
“Where are we right now?”  
  
“My house.” The boy replied. Eren looked around him, the place seemed more like a small abandoned shed than a house. There was a single window and two doors, one which led outside and another which Eren could see led to the bathroom. There were no other rooms.  
  
“In the underground?” Eren asked  
  
“Well, duh.”  
  
“You found me in that alley, right? Passed out? Do you know how I got there?”  
  
“Hmm.” The boy stopped eating and looked up. “You don’t know? I don’t know how you got there either, I just found you like that. I figured you were an MP that passed out drunk or something.”  
  
_So, I still have no idea how I got here. Great. _

“What’s your name, kid?”  
  
The boy hesitated at that question and pondered over it for a while. “You first.” He finally responded.  
  
“Fine, I’m Eren Yeager. Nice to meet you.”

“Eren…” The boy seemed like he still didn’t want to give his name but eventually gave in “I’m Levi, just Levi”  
  
Eren froze and felt the burning of bile rising in his throat.  
  
_No way. There was no way this kid was Captain Levi. Sure, he has the same hair and same eyes, the same name and the same love for tea apparently. Sure, I’m in the underground where Captain Levi grew up. And I’ve seen the past through my father’s memories before. Weird things keep happening to me all the time. But time travel? Nah. That’s just taking it several steps too far. This kid was not Levi.  
  
_“Whoa are you alright? You look like you need to take a huge shit but you’re constipated down there so it’s trying to come out the other end.”  
  
_Okay, it really is Captain Levi.  
  
_“I think I’m gonna be sick, what did I do in my past life to deserve this?” Eren clenched his stomach, he was sure he was about to hurl any second now.  
  
“You should drink some of the tea, it’ll help you feel better.” Levi said softly as he poured some in both the cups. Eren observed as he clasped the cup from its rim in his signature style and took a sip.  
  
_Oh, so he holds it like that because the handles had broken off. _Eren took a deep breath and a sip from his own cup. It felt more like hot water than tea. It was very diluted, probably because Levi didn’t have a lot of tea with him. But it did help.

_It’s alright. If I can travel back in time, I can go back to my time too. I just need to stay calm. _Eren reassured himself.

“Hey Levi, how old are you?”  
  
“Fifteen.”  
  
“Fifteen? I’m fifteen. There’s no way you’re fifteen. You are _way _younger.”  
  
“Well I’m sorry you didn’t age well.”  
  
Eren didn’t buy it, but he gave up anyway. He settled that the kid was probably twelve _at most_ and was just putting on an act.  
  
“Very funny. Where are your parents?”

“Mom’s dead. Don’t have a dad.” the boy replied, his voice apathetic.

“Ah...sorry.”

“It’s fine. I thought you were an MP, but the crest on your uniform is different. Are you from the Survey Corps?” Levi asked  
  
“Yeah…I am.” Eren thought it would be wise to keep the time travel stuff to himself, not that mini Levi would believe him anyway. Revealing too many things might also mess stuff up, he already made a mistake by giving his full name. He hoped nothing would come from that.

“I’ve never met someone from the Survey Corps before. They don’t really come down here since, y’know, no titans to kill.”  
  
“Yeah, well, I don’t know why I’m here either.”  
  
“You fight good.” Levi stated. Eren was taken aback by the sudden compliment. “How come you’re so good with hand to hand combat, don’t you guys only fight titans?”

“Its basic military training. It’s useful too, you never know where your enemies could come from. It’s not always titans.” Eren replied.  
  
“Yeah, that’s true. Could you teach me as well? That guy was so much bigger than you, but you took him down like it was nothing!” Levi seemed much more excitable now. He looked at Eren with a glimmer in his eyes, hoping he’d say yes. Eren wondered if that’s how he used to look at Levi too.  
  
“Thanks.” Eren chuckled, then at the thought of the alley fight he remembered something.  
  
“Listen, that key you took from me, I really need it back. Where is it?”  
  
“What do you need it for?”  
  
“It’s just important. I can’t go home without it.”  
  
“You really need a key? I could bust open any door myself.” The boy stood up to show off some air kicks.  
  
“Right…no that key is really special to me. Its uh, from my dad so it has sentimental value and stuff.”  
  
“Oh,” Levi stopped his movements and dug his hand into his pocket. He pulled out the glistening gold object and Eren let out a sigh of relief.  
  
“Thank god you still have it.” Eren got up to take the key from Levi’s hands but the boy pulled out his dagger stopping him from getting any closer.  
  
“Nope, you can’t have it now. You can have it back once you teach me how to fight."  
  
“Look I’m sorry but I don’t have time for that I need to get back home.”  
  
“I’m strong but not strong enough to fight everybody. I want you to teach me how I can fight better.”  
  
“Trust me you’ll be fine the way you are, I on the other hand am in a _very_ difficult situation right now and need to leave so give me back the key!”

Just as Eren took a step forward Levi leapt back. Eren could only stand still and watch in horror at what happened next.  
  
Gulp.

Eren stayed frozen for a moment before finally getting the words out.

“You…you didn’t.”  
  
“I did”  
  
“How is that possible?”  
  
“You saw it happen.”  
  
“How could you swallow it!? It wasn’t even a tiny thing it was like a big proper sized key! Made of metal and stuff!”  
  
“Well then I guess I’m gonna be constipated for a while.”

Eren’s head was hurting again, but this time for an entirely different reason. It seemed like everything was falling apart. Never mind that he didn’t even know how to get back to his time, he couldn’t go back without the key to the basement! He let out a frustrated groan and massaged his temples.  
  
“Alright,” Eren resigned to his fate. He was just going to have to wait a while longer, not much he could for now. “I guess I could teach you something if I’m going to be here for a while, don’t have much of a choice now.”  
  
Levi beamed and sat back down continuing to sip at his tea. Eren glared at him while trying to remind himself that he was just a little kid and also it probably wouldn’t be good for the timeline if something were to happen to his captain so he should keep his frustrations at bay.  
  
_Little Brat._  
  
“Honestly if you wanted to steal something,” Eren reached deep into his back pocket and pulled out some gold and silver coins “Why not take these?”  
  
“Wait, you had actual money on you the whole time?!”  
  
“Yeah,” Eren gave a cocky smile “You need to be more thorough with your checking.”  
  
“Tch.” Levi was visibly annoyed at his own oversight.

“Right.” Eren paused for a while lost in thought then began again. “Listen Levi. Is it alright if I just keep calling you ‘kid’?”  
  
“No way, use my name! ‘Kid’ just sounds like you’re trying to look down on me.”  
  
“Actually, I know someone named Levi and it just…feels a bit weird calling you that.”  
  
“Is it the same guy you think I look like?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“He sounds badass.”

Eren let out a chuckle at that “I suppose so.” Levi stopped talking and made a gesture which looked like he was pretending to think deeply about something.  
  
“Alright, if it bothers you so much you can call me…” he paused and stood up, placed his hood over his head and struck a pose with his dagger

“...Shadow Master…”  
  
_Yeah, this dork was probably eleven._

“…Assassin of the Dark, Bringer of Pain...”  
  
_Maybe ten_.

“…Duke of…”  
  
“Alright alright I get it! I’ll call you Levi. Happy now?”  
  
“Yep.” Levi sat back down and let out a yawn.  
  
“Yeah, I’m sleepy too” said Eren “I guess we should hit the hay”  
  
“You can sleep on that mattress, I’ll sleep here on the other side.” He walked to the other side of the room where a pile of old cushions had been laid out. He then turned and pointed his dagger at Eren. “I sleep with a dagger and with one eye open, so you better not try anything.”  
  
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Eren smiled. Honestly Levi seemed like he wouldn’t hesitate to use that knife on him, but he was just so cute and tiny Eren couldn’t take the treat seriously. They both laid down in their beds and wrapped up inside their blankets. “Goodnight,” sang Eren and waited to see if he would get a response. It was followed by a long minute of silence. He wondered if he was ignored or Levi was already asleep. But just then he heard a faint whisper, he was pretty sure it said “Night.”

Eren smiled triumphantly and closed his eyes. _Cute kid. Bad manners._ He mused at how much the aggressiveness reminded him a little bit of himself when he was younger. As he drifted off to sleep, he felt calmer. If he was stuck down here anyway, he might as well get to know the little guy a bit better.


	3. Chapter 3

“Oi, Eren, wake up.”

Eren awoke at the sound of the familiar voice, but the warmth of the blanket he was wrapped up in wouldn’t let him go from its grasp. He turned to his side finding the perfect comfortable position, the desire to continue sleeping too strong.  
  
“Captain…” he groaned “…I swear I cleaned the storage like you asked. Can I just sleep for five more minutes...”  
  
“Captain?” the voice questioned. It was at this moment Eren realized the voice wasn’t of the Captain he knew. He sat upright to observe his surroundings, wiping the tiredness from his eyes.

_Oh, that’s right. Time travel. Great._

“I’m not your Captain, stupid. But if you want me to be then sure, why not?” Levi smiled deviously as he reached for the blanket underneath Eren.  
  
“First order is to get out of bed!” he demanded and pulled the blanket with enough force to make Eren fall out of the bed. “It’s morning, so come on.” Levi made his way out the door of the cabin. After taking a minute to make sure he was fully awake, Eren got up and followed him. The outside didn’t feel much different than last night. It was still reasonably dark, with a rocky ceiling high above their heads and gas lamps as the only source of light. The house seemed to be located on an abandoned street. Not many people were up and about.

“How do you know its morning?” Eren asked.  
  
“My body just knows.”  
  
“What if your body is wrong?”

“It doesn’t matter, you had your sleep. Now come on let’s fight!” Levi exclaimed as he got into battle stance.  
  
“Just like that? Right now? Already?” Eren asked as he tried to fight back the yawn that was begging him to go back to bed.  
  
“Duh, don’t they say exercise in the morning is good or something. Now come on hurry up let’s start already!”

_No matter what time I’m in, he’s never going to let me catch a break._

“Ok fine, whatever you say.” Eren walked in front of Levi creating some space between them. He stretched his neck and arms to shake the drowsiness out of his system. “How about first you show me what you got? Oh, and no knife please.”  
  
“Jeez, don’t worry. I’m not crazy. You ready or not?”  
  
After finishing his stretches Eren entered into a defensive stance. “Ready.”  
  
With that Levi charges forward full force, kneeing Eren in his stomach and almost knocking him over.  
  
“AAAH FFF…” Eren winced at the pulsating pain left at the point of impact. He hunched over folding his arms tightly around his waist. Levi as if by instinct began laughing at the view but immediately halted when he noticed Eren wasn’t getting back up.  
  
“Hey, are you ok? Did I go too far?” he asked. His eyes wide and worried, Eren wondered if he was really concerned or was just scared that he was going to get into trouble.

_Either way he looks cute. Cute but evil._

“Nah, nah I’m fine. I’ve dealt with way worse than this. You just caught me by surprise. How is a kid that’s living on soggy bread and watered-down tea this strong?” He already knew just how strong Levi was, but he didn’t expect the same from such a younger version, especially with how scrawny he looked. It was not quite as brutal as the beating he received in the court room but was still intense.

“Well I did have someone teach me how to be strong.” Levi replied. Eren figured he must be referring to Kenny. His captain didn’t give full details, but he did mention that he lived with the notorious killer for a time in his life. Eren figured it would be too personal to ask the kid more about it.

Once recovered Eren stood up again in the same position as before. “Alright, now try again. Don’t hold back.” He spoke with a newfound cockiness, one wouldn’t think he was just writhing in pain a few seconds ago.  
  
“Uh, are you sure?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Levi hesitated for a moment but shrugged it off. Again, he charged forward with the same force aiming to land another blow to the stomach. Before he could land it however Eren sidestepped out of the way, kicked him the side of his leg to make him lose his balance and finally pinned him to the ground with a headlock. Levi tried to struggle his way out, but the grip was too tight and eventually had to throw in the towel.  
  
“Your first mistake was using the same move again.” Eren gave a cocky smile. “You should never be predictable.”

“Get off me, you’re heavy!” Levi complained. Eren released him from the lock and helped him get back up on his feet.  
  
“Also you’re small so once someone has got you in a lock you’re pretty much done for.”  
  
“Yeah yeah.” Levi responded uninterested as he wiped the dust off his pants. Though he was the one that asked to be coached, Eren could tell he was a sore loser.

“Like you’re really tiny.”  
  
“I heard you the first time.”  
  
“Super, duper tiny.”

“Will you shut up?”  
  
“You could fit in my pocket probably.”  
  
“Hey! I asked for your help not for you to make fun of me.”  
  
“Heh heh, sorry.” Eren gave a cheeky smile. He could never tease Captain Levi like this so might as well make the most of it now. “Strength is important, but so is technique. If you’re facing someone a lot bigger you need to use moves that’ll use their weight against them. The move I used on you is one example.”  
  
“Show me more.”  
  
“Alright sure, whatever you say.”

They spent the next hour sparring. Levi was a quick learner. Within only 3-4 tries he could pick up any new maneuver Eren showed him. But each time Eren would counter with something different. The gap in experience was apparent and each round ended with Levi in either a headlock or pinned to the ground. But it only made the kid more determined to win.  
  
“Let’s stop now.” Eren announced

“What? No! Just once more this time I’m sure I’ve got it!”  
  
“Look we can do this later. Right now I’m tired and I want something to eat.”  
  
Before Levi could protest any further his stomach growled audibly at the prospect of food.  
  
“Looks like you’re hungry too.” Eren reached in his pocket for the spare change he had saved. “Where’s the market?”.  
  
“It’s not far, I can take you there. But first…” Levi went back inside the house and came out with a long, raggedy, grey cloak. “Put this on.” He said as he tossed it to Eren. “Use it to hide your uniform, not everybody around here likes you military guys. Most of them don’t.”

\---

After a 15-minute walk they reached the busy marketplace. It was not too different from the ones found on the surface. Various stalls set up in a line across the street with goods ranging from food, clothes and cheap knick knacks. The sound of people loudly haggling with the stall owners made the place seem more alive compared to everything else he’d seen in the underground so far.

As they approached a food stall, the man on the other side of the counter motioned them to stop. “Wait! What are you doing here again you brat? I don’t need any more trouble today.” The man seemed to be around his mid-40s. He had a large build with tan skin and dark hair that was beginning to turn grey at the ends. His attention was fully on Levi.

“Relax Gramps, I got money this time I swear!” he replied. To this the man raised an eyebrow, suspicious of what he just heard. “I found this thing.” Levi continued as he motioned his hand to the tall robed figure next to him “It’s called an Eren.”

“Oh, I’m a thing now?”  
  
“I found it on the street. It has money inside.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m your piggy bank you little weasel.”  
  
“Ahem.” The stall owner interrupted their banter to shake Eren’s hand. “Eren, is it? Pleasure to meet you. I’m Heinz.”  
  
“Same here. Also, he’s right. I have money. I’ll pay for the food.”  
  
“Well that’s good to hear.”  
  
“Looks like you’ve got everything covered,” Levi spoke “Get something good, I’m gonna go look around the place.” Before getting any response, he started walking away.  
  
“Okay, but don’t cause any trouble!” Eren yelled after him

At the sound of this Levi stopped in his tracks, turned around and did something Eren never thought he’d see Captain Levi do. He stuck his tongue out at him.  
  
_Seriously, what an immature child. _

Eren stuck his tongue out back at him and made an equally ridiculous face.  
  
_An eye for an eye._

“Weirdo!” Levi shouted before finally running around the corner till he was out of sight. Eren turned his attention back to Heinz who was smiling warmly at him.  
  
“Looks like you’ve got your hands full. What are you doing with the kid?”  
  
“I guess you could say I’m his captive.”

The man laughed at the response “Yeah, that’s sounds like something he would do. I’m glad though. You seem like a nice young fellow, and he seems awfully chipper around you. I haven’t seen him like that in a while. What will it be?”  
  
“Some bread please.” Eren replied. He wasn’t sure if it showed on his face but hearing that Levi apparently seemed happier than normal thanks to him made him feel proud. Eren took a few coins out of his pocket.

"Dang kid you're loaded. But you don't need that much for just bread, a piece will do."

The prices at these stores were a lot cheaper than on the surface. Might be so it could be more affordable for people down here. Being approximately 20 years in the past probably also had something to do with it. Either way Eren was thankful since this put him at an advantage financially. He could probably survive down here for some time if he rationed properly.

"I have a soft spot for that little brat.” Heinz continued as he gave Eren a loaf of bread. “His mother, she was a really nice lady. Her name was Kuchel. She had it rough but worked hard for herself and the kid. Then she died of some disease. He doesn’t have anyone to take care of him. He thinks he’s real sneaky when he comes to my stall to stuff food in his pockets, but the truth is I let him take it. I can’t always do that though. I have my own family to take care of and business down here just isn’t easy. If I could do more for him I would.”  
  
“Yeah, I can understand that.”

“I think it’s good he has someone around again. Before he used to follow around that Kenny guy. Kenny the Ripper. He’s a dangerous fellow. I didn’t really like that he used to hang around. But he did feed him, clothe him and teach him some survival skills. The boy probably wouldn’t have lasted this long if it wasn’t for him. But ever since Kenny left the poor kid seems so lost. He just hangs around here and there, like he doesn’t know what to do. Sorry I’m rambling.”

“No that’s okay.” Eren wondered if there was something, he could do to help Levi. The Captain he knew was always so focused, the thought of an unmotivated and confused Levi didn’t sit well with him.

_There must be something he wants._

“Will that be all?” Heinz asked  
  
“Hmm…” Eren thought about what else he could purchase for Levi. “Do you have anything that helps someone poop?”  
  
“Uh…I’m not gonna ask. But these apples might do the trick.”  
  
“That sounds perfect!” Refreshing, sweet, juicy, and will hopefully help him get his key back faster. Heinz handed him over a couple of red apples. Eren placed everything in a bag and wondered how long it would be till Levi got back.  
  
“Run!”  
  
Eren looked at the direction Levi had ran off to before and saw him running back while carrying a large object bundled up inside a large cloth.  
  
“YoulivewithmethatmakesyoumyaccomplicesoRUN!” he shouted quickly as he zoomed pass Eren and out of the marketplace. Eren looked back at the corner Levi had emerged from and wondered who was chasing after him. He figured whoever it was bothering him he could take care of easily. Just then a Military Police Officer appeared running towards him.

Eren wasn’t sure if the law applied to time travelers but he wasn’t about to stick around and find out. He ran and caught up with Levi. They were both much faster than the officer but were still well in his view.  
  
“Come on, let’s shake him off.” Levi said as he turned the next corner. Eren promptly followed as they navigated the maze of alleyways until the officer was completely out of sight.

\---

They reached the house completely out of breath from the chase. Levi kept the object he was carrying on the ground and fell right onto the mattress. Eren took off his cloak and placed down the food he bought.  
  
“Alright, why was he chasing you?” He asked.

Levi removed the cloth covering the large object. Underneath it was an ODM gear set, complete with the gas mechanism, wire propeller and grappling hooks.  
  
Eren rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. “Why did you take this? You could seriously get into trouble.”

“I want you to teach me how to use it.”  
  
“Did you forget I’m a soldier too? What, you think you can steal this important equipment and I’m just going to let you get away with it?”  
  
“Do you like MPs?”  
  
“Not really, no.”  
  
“Then there’s no problem, besides I could probably make better use of it than a stupid, drunk MP.”  
  
“Well I can’t argue with that, but still I’m not going to teach you. You’re too young. Too small. No offense, it’s just that your body can’t handle the mechanism right now.”  
  
Levi wanted to argue back, but when he took a second look at the ODM gear and its intimidating size he decided Eren was probably right. Still he was disappointed.

"Well I won’t teach you. But maybe we could take it for a spin anyway.”  
  
Levi’s eyes glimmered, and he audibly gasped with delight. “Yes! This’ll be great!”  
  
Eren wondered if he was spoiling him too much.

\---

They waited for nightfall to make sure not many people were around the area anymore. Outside the house Eren put on the ODM gear. Levi gawked at it like a kid discovering a new shiny toy or Hange discovering a new abnormal titan.  
  
“We shouldn’t stray too far from the house. These abandoned buildings seem decently high enough. We can circle a couple times and land back here,” Eren stated.

“So how will this work exactly?” asked Levi.  
  
“Simple. Just hop into my pocket and I’ll do all the work.”  
  
“That wasn’t funny the first time and it’s not funny the second time.”  
  
Eren chuckled “Fine, hop on my back and hold really tight.”  
  
Levi complied and climbed on top of his back while making sure to ‘accidentally’ kick him in the butt. Levi felt a lot lighter than Eren expected, he almost felt fragile. It was perplexing that such a scrawny, delicate child could pack such a mean punch.

“Are you holding on tight?”  
  
“Yep, I’m ready.”

“Uh...I’ve never done with a passenger before,” Eren admitted nervously. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all, I think we shouldn’t do this.”  
  
“No! Come on I swear I’ll be really careful. Don’t worry!”  
  
Eren hesitated for a moment but decided it would probably be okay and he wasn’t gonna break the kids’ heart after promising him he would do this. He took a running start and then hooked onto a nearby building. Then they were off, carefully swinging from the taller buildings in near the area circling around the house.

Eren had done this countless time before and his slower than usual movements and longer pauses were hardly any reason for thrill. Yet he felt exhilarated. He couldn’t remember the last time he used ODM gear without the threat of titans or without a captain to oversee his practice. Even before then there was always Instructor Shadis to yell at him. To do this without any goal and no stress was a completely different feeling.

“Whoo! This is so much fun!” Levi cheered from the back. For Eren this was hardly even his daily exercise, but Levi screamed happily at every swing like someone’s first time on a roller coaster.  
  
“You’re right. This is fun!” Eren had to hold himself back from showing off any flips and stunts. He wondered if he could sneak off and do something like this again once he was back in his own time.

After a few minutes they landed back on the ground and went back in the house. Eren burst out laughing at Levi’s hair which now looked like a flock of birds tried to make their nest in. Levi was too happy to care about being made fun of though. They spent the rest of the night having dinner and chatting about random topics. Levi wasn’t sure why Eren insisted he should eat the apples, but it had been a long time since he could enjoy fruit so he didn’t question it. Tired from a long but fulfilling day, the boys put out the fire and went to sleep.

\---

Eren knocked on the bathroom door. “Levi, is it coming out?”  
  
“Eren, for the last time leave me alone!”  
  
“Sorry, just checking.”  
  
“I can’t shit with you bugging me!”  
  
“…”  
  
“Are you still standing out there?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Well, stop! Oh, wait I think it’s coming out.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
“Yea- no nope its gone back in. You scared it Eren, great job.”  
  
The apples didn’t work.


	4. Chapter 4

Two days passed by in the same routine. Fighting practice, eating, walking around town, drinking watered down tea, Levi getting into trouble, more fighting practice and Levi trying to go to the bathroom with Eren hovering over him. The stress of him knocking on the door and constantly asking "Did it pass, Levi?” did not help. It seemed like they key wasn’t going to come out for a while. There was one point where Eren got so impatient he suggested he ‘helped’ take it out.  
  
“How exactly would you help?”  
  
“Well, my dad was a doctor. Maybe I could reach i-“  
  
Despite his own lack of medical knowledge, Levi insisted there was no way that would work nor was he going to let Eren try. That night at dinner they had a meeting on the importance of personal boundaries and reevaluating priorities.

Once Eren got adjusted to the daily routine he no longer felt as impatient. He decided to approach the situation as a mini vacation from his own reality. Plus, it was fun to be able to consistently beat Captain Levi in a round of hand to hand combat. Sure, he was half of Eren’s size and years behind in experience, but he didn’t let that dampen his victory.

“One…two…three…I win.” Eren released his hold on Levi to let him stand up and wipe the dust from his pants.  
  
“Okay, but you have to admit that this time I almost beat you!”  
  
“Yeah you did, you’re getting a lot better,” Eren smiled. “Keep it up, maybe someday you could even take on a titan.”  
  
Levi laughed at the remark and then paused as if he was debating something in his head. Then after a minute of silence he worked up the courage to ask.  
  
“Eren, what are titans like exactly?”

The question echoed in his ears. Had this been only a few years ago he could have answered the question easily. ‘Titans are mindless, horrifying creatures that mercilessly kill humans and have us caged inside walls. That’s why I’ve made it my mission to get rid of every last one.’ Something like that would have sufficed. But the more Eren thought about the answer the more he felt like he didn’t have it. What were titans? Titans were the monsters that destroyed his home and killed his mother. Titans were the reason countless good people lost their lives. Titans were his friends who betrayed him for motives he didn’t know. Titans were the walls that kept humanity safe. Titans were the people that tried to hide the truth from humanity and titans were people that wanted to break free.

Unnerved by the prolonged silence, Levi wondered if he said something he shouldn’t have.  
  
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. You probably don’t wanna talk about it.”  
  
“No, it’s alright. But I’m sorry, I don’t really know what to say.”  
  
“That’s okay. You don’t have to.”

With that they went back inside to get some rest. Levi didn’t ask about the titans again.

\---

“Aren’t you bored of the same old routine?”

Levi was lying down on his side of the room staring at the ceiling before he turned to Eren who was sitting on the bed visibly agitated.  
  
“Well there’s not much to do down here.”  
  
“I’m bored of doing the same old stuff.”  
  
“Whatever, if you come up with something let me know.”

Eren looked around the room for something, anything that was even remotely interesting. All he realized was that the place was very filthy. Walls and windows covered with grime, dusty floors and he was certain that one of the corners of the room was beginning to grow mold. Chipped teacups and plates were scattered around the room, wherever their last user decided to leave them. He tried not to think about it but a place like this must have been infested with something. If Captain Levi were there, he’d be working everyone to the bone to get this place cleaned. There is no way this would be acceptable in his book. To see the younger version just embrace the mess around him was shocking. Eren thought that Captain Levi had always been a neat freak. He always imagined him coming out of his mother’s womb complaining about how filthy it was. But looks like even he didn’t care about hygiene as a kid.  
  
_It’s a shame though. This place could be a lot more homely if we spruced it up a bit. Wait…_

“Levi, I’m going head over to the market, I’ll be back soon.”  
  
“Huh, why? What do you want?”  
  
“It’s a surprise.”  
  
\---

After about an hour Eren returned home with some items inside a large bag.

“Finally, took you long enough. I was beginning to think maybe you died or something,” Levi got up and walked towards Eren. “What the hell did you go to buy?”  
  
“Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”  
  
Levi gave Eren a suspicious look. Was this guy really going to gift him something? Why? It didn’t make any sense. But whatever it was Eren seemed excited about it.  
  
“Fine, whatever.” Levi held out his palms and closed his eyes like Eren asked. “It better be something edible cause I’m getting hungry again.”

Just then Levi felt something placed in his hands. It definitely wasn’t edible. It felt long…and hard…  
  
“Go on, guess what it is.”  
  
“I…don’t think I want to. I’m scared to open my eyes.”  
  
“Just look! It’s nothing weird.”  
  
Levi hesitantly opened his eyes. “It’s…it’s a broom.”  
  
“Do you like it?”  
  
“Hm.” Levi stared at the broom for a few seconds and then started walking towards the door.  
  
“Hey, where are you going?”  
  
“To return it.”  
  
“Oh hey come on!” Eren shouted as he closed the door “Hear me out. We were both so bored so I thought maybe we could clean up this place a little bit. Together!”  
  
“I don’t really know what people do on the surface for fun, but I doubt there’s anyone up there that thinks cleaning is fun.”  
  
“You’d be surprised. Anyway, here’s some more stuff. I got rags, a dustpan, towels, some soap even…” Eren took out all the items from the bag one after the other as Levi watched in horror.  
  
“Eren, how did you afford all this? Don’t tell me you blew everything off for cleaning stuff?”  
  
“That’s the best part! I didn’t have to pay for most of it. I talked to Heinz about how we wanted to clean up the place and he thought it was a good idea that I was teaching you productive things. He said we could borrow his equipment anytime. You can keep the broom though he doesn’t need that anymore. He’s a nice guy honestly you should really thank him.”  
  
“Yeah…I’ll make sure to.” Levi made a mental note to swipe some food from Heinz’s stand next time he went to the market. “I’m sleeply, it’s getting late. Just go return all that junk. We don’t need it.”  
  
“It’s not that late and this is not junk. The trash you have lying around this place however is,” Eren tossed a rag in Levi’s hands. “Now let’s get cracking.”  
  
“You’re really going to force me to clean?”  
  
“Yes, yes I am.”  
  
“Well I’m not going to,” Levi said as he threw the rag away. “I actually like the way this place is.”  
  
“Come on there’s no way that’s true this place looks terrible; it must be so difficult to live here.”  
  
“Well I’m sorry it doesn’t meet your standards ‘Mr. Hero from the Surface’. But down here things are different. You’re welcome to leave if you can’t stand it.”  
  
“I don’t see why you’re so against the idea. It’s not like you have anything better to do. I get a feeling you’d be good at it too. Just try it.”

“Stop trying to change the way I live! So sorry that I’m not good enough for you but I don’t care!” Levi was starting yell. It seemed like he was almost about to tear up. Eren did think he might face some opposition to the idea, but he didn’t expect such a heated argument.  
  
“I’m not trying to change _you_. This isn’t about you, this about the house. This place is like a rat’s nest.”  
  
“Well it suits me just fine don’t you think!?”  
  
“No. I don’t think it suits you at all. I don’t see how such a dirty place could be fitting for such a cute kid.” Eren replied calmly. His response was short and simple, but it was enough to leave Levi speechless. He did not know how to react. He was still frustrated but now also confused. Without saying another word, he stormed off to his side of the room and laid back down.  
  
“Why did you say it suits you?” Eren prodded further to which he received nothing but silence.  
  
“So you’re really not going to help me huh?”  
  
“…”  
  
“Fine! I’ll start myself and when you see how much fun it is, you’ll join on your own!” Eren went over to the window and began cleaning away the grime with a wet rag. After a few minutes of effort, the glass began to clear up brightening up the room more.  
  
“See Levi, check it out! The window looks so much better now. I bet you didn’t even know you had a window.” Eren looked back to see if Levi was watching. Instead the boy sank deeper into his cushion bed with his face turned away, not saying a word. Eren recalled he used to do this as a child as well whenever his mother used to yell at him. At moments like that he’d get so upset he would just want to crawl into his bed and disappear.  
  
_Did I make him feel like he wants to disappear? Did I really say something terrible?_

Eren was certain he didn’t say anything wrong, but the pitiful sight of Levi looking like he was struggling to not cry made him feel guilty anyway. Captain Levi had once told him to not clean with a guilty conscience. ‘An unclear mind leads to unclear windows.’ Eren decided that was enough for today and went to bed as well.  
  
_Is this how you used to feel, mom?_

“Goodnight.” Eren said as he laid in his bed. This time he really didn’t get a response.

\---

“Take that! And that!”  
  
Eren woke up to the sound of talking and shuffling across the floor. The light from the window fell on his face and he wiped the grogginess from his eyes.  
  
“Who do you work for, huh? You think you can mess with me? This is my turf.”  
  
He followed the voice and found Levi standing near the door, talking to the ground and…. sweeping.  
  
_Wait…sweeping?_

“You’re cleaning!”  
  
Levi froze at the sound of his voice. “Jeez, you have to be so loud? It’s early in the morning. You nearly scared the pants off of me.”  
  
“You’re cleaning?”  
  
“Yes I am and before you get the wrong idea I still think it’s pointless but I couldn’t sleep last night and there was….nothing better to do…so…”

“Why couldn’t you sleep?”  
  
“I was constipated.”  
  
“Ah…who were you talking to just now?”  
  
Just then Eren learned another fascinating fact about Levi which he probably would have never known if he were still in his own time. When he was embarrassed his ears turned red.

“N-no one. I didn’t say anything.”

“You were talking to the dust bunnies weren’t you.”  
  
“Shut up!” Levi whined and frantically started dusting the floor again. His movements were clumsy and sporadic. The broom was too big for him and he was having some difficulty in keeping it balanced. This made Eren burst out laughing.  
  
“What’s so funny?”  
  
“Sorry, it’s that the broom’s like twice your size. You look so cute sweeping with it!” Eren spoke in intervals struggling to stop his laughter fit. Levi could feel his ears getting hotter.  
  
“I’m not _that_ small! Look are you gonna help me or not?”  
  
“Sure I’ll help! I’m really glad you finally came around.” Eren felt a sense of achievement. He figured that maybe he really was a good influence on the kid.  
  
“Fine.” Levi took a rag and tossed it towards Eren “You can do the bathroom, and make sure you get in between the cracks in the tiles too!”  
  
The sense of achievement didn’t last very long.  
  
“You know, I already get ordered around a lot by my captain back on the surface. I was kind of hoping this time things would be different.”

“Well that’s too bad, now get to work!”  
  
“Yes sir, Captain Levi sir.” Eren sighed sarcastically as he gave the kid a playful salute.  
  
The place was small but still a tall task to clean. Levi fought off all the dust bunnies while giving Eren the more grueling jobs. They rearranged furniture, scrubbed the floors and walls, disposed of useless junk and had a mini battle with a rat that didn’t seem to want to leave. Like magic, every surface they cleaned added a new colour to the home. Throughout the process Levi made sure to be very vocal of any disapproval he had regarding Eren’s progress. Eren didn’t mind it, somehow it made him feel right at home. After hours of effort they were finally done.  
  
“Whew, we did it!” Levi exclaimed as he wiped the sweat off his brow.  
  
“We did. Well what do you think? Proud of your handiwork?”  
  
“Yeah, I actually am pretty proud. This place looks so different, I didn’t think it was possible.”  
  
Eren smirked at the response, “See? I told you so.”

Eren felt a loud smack right on his butt. He winced and rubbed his hand on it to soothe the stinging and turned around to see what hit him.

“Hey!”  
  
“You were right,” Levi smiled deviously as he waved the broom in front of his face, “this is a pretty good gift.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to [@Heichous_Poncho](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heichous_Poncho/pseuds/Heichous_Poncho) for the idea about Eren trying to "help" retrieve the key. It was really funny lmao.


	5. Chapter 5

“Thankyou again Heinz for giving me those cleaning supplies. I feel bad for relying on you so much.”  
  
“It’s my pleasure, kid. You know you’re one of my favourite customers. You actually pay me!”  
  
Eren let out a chuckle and put some money on the counter. “Just some bread again and do you have any milk?”  
  
“Yup, coming right up.”  
  
It had now been a full week since Eren ended up in the underground. By now everything felt familiar to him. As long as he had money and kept Levi out of trouble, it wasn’t so bad. Back home the world was moving too fast for him and he was struggling to keep up. To be able to slow down a bit, take a breather and not worry about any friends dying at the hands of titans was a welcome change. He really needed this.

But the inevitable still lingered at the back of his mind. He was starting to go thin on money, there’s only so much he could afford with what he had in his pocket when he got here. And Levi hadn’t ‘released’ his key yet. He should have by now even if he was a little constipated. This worried Eren greatly. Does Humanity’s Strongest also have strong stomach acid?

_Did he digest the key? Is that possible?_

“What the hell did you just say?!”

Distant shouting interrupted his paranoid thoughts. It was Levi. Eren sighed and went after the sound of what would inevitably be another fight. This seemed to be a common occurrence whenever they went out in public for too long. Eren didn’t want to act like a nagging parent and he felt hypocritical of trying to stop Levi, considering his own fights as a kid. In fact, he was certain these experiences probably had something to do with shaping Levi into the strong soldier he would eventually become. But his conscience wouldn’t let him leave a child in danger.

As he approached the crowd of people that gathered in the market center, he heard one of them say “Damn, he’s really getting a pummeling.” He was now running. He frantically pushed through the crowd with the intent to rip apart at whoever dared to lay their hand on the young boy, but what he found at the other side wasn’t quite what he expected.

“Why don’t you say it again, you dumbass? I dare you!” Levi shouted as he stomped a few more times on the older man who was lying on the ground nearly passed out. He held his dagger in his hands and his eyes showed no mercy.  
  
_This does not look good._

Eren pushed his way in and grabbed Levi by the arm.  
  
“Let go of me!”  
  
“No, we’re leaving. You’re done.”

He quickly dragged him away from the scene. Levi struggled against his grip but gave up once they were out of the marketplace. The rest of the walk back home was silent. Neither said a word. Eren occasionally glanced at the younger who continued to stare at the ground and angrily sniffled. Figures he’d be upset. Whatever instigated the fight, Eren was certain Levi wouldn’t behave that way unprovoked. The man probably deserved what was coming to him, and Eren was getting in the way of Levi’s sense of justice. But he couldn’t just let the kid nearly murder a man.  
  
Once again Eren felt like a hypocrite.

\---

Levi stormed indoors and sat on his cushion pile, face away from Eren. Eren sighed as he closed the door behind him.  
  
“What happened?” Eren asked.  
  
“Why did you stop me?”. It was more of a demand than a question.  
  
“You were going too far.”  
  
“Isn’t this why you were teaching me how to fight, so I could take out jerks like him?”

“You could have killed him at that rate”  
  
“That’s cause he messed with someone who was more powerful than him. Tough luck.”

“What did he do to you?”  
  
“Does it matter? Eren stop trying to change me for fucks sake! Stop acting like you know what’s best for me. The strong pick on the weak and if I show weakness then I’m done for. Sorry I can’t play by your goody two shoes rules. Your home is back on the surface, but I have to live down here in this hell hole for the rest of my life!”  
  
“Damn it I’m not trying to change you! I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Well, I’m fine…”

Eren massaged his temples. He wasn’t getting through to the kid at all and honestly didn’t know what to say.

“Are you hurt?” Eren asked softly

“No, he tried to get me but he couldn’t.”  
  
Eren walked towards him and grabbed his arm. He rolled up his sleeve to inspect and saw some slight bruising and minor cuts.  
  
“Let go of me!” Levi pulled away.  
  
“You are hurt.” Eren ignored Levi’s struggle and lifted his shirt revealing more minor injuries. Some were fresh while others old and faded. Seeing the marks ignited a new fury in Eren, suddenly the man from before didn’t seem so helpless anymore. Maybe he did get what was coming to him.  
  
“That bastard…” Eren said under his breath. “We should clean your injuries.” He placed his hand on Levi’s head to give him a light pat. He winced at the feeling; it was greasy.

“Come to think of it, when’s the last time you even had a bath?”. Levi ignored the comment and pushed his hand away.

“Well now’s a good time as any. I’ll get the water ready.”  
  
“I can take a bath myself.”

“No, you’ll hurt yourself, I will help you.”  
  
Levi opened his mouth to protest but Eren cut him off  
  
“No, I wont take no for an answer. I need to help you clean your injuries _properly_.” He said it so sternly Levi didn’t bother to argue. He knew Eren was right and there was no talking his way out of it so might as well just get it over with quick.

\---

Water rushed into the steal tub filling it to its brim. Eren turned the tap water off and placed the large tub on the ground. He had towels and soap from when he bought cleaning supplies. He ran his hand through the water to check the temperature.  
  
“It’s ready. Come in.”  
  
Levi peered in the bathroom through the door. He agitatedly stared at the tub but hesitated to come inside.  
  
“Look it’s fine. Nothing I’ve never seen before.”  
  
Reluctantly, Levi entered the bathroom.  
  
“Don’t look.” He demanded. Eren rolled his eyes but looked away as Levi undressed his clothes and got inside the tub. “Okay, now you can look.” He said once he was sitting waist deep in the water. This was Eren’s first time getting a good look at the kid. His skin was pale and his body scrawny. No longer did he look like a tough, big mouthed brat, but a fragile entity that could bruise at the slightest touch. The boniness of his limbs further highlighted the redness around his wounds. Eren expected him to look as such, judging from his diet. But to see it broke his heart. Eren took a deep breath and submerged a small towel inside the water. He then carefully began to clean around Levi’s injuries, trying to keep his touch as delicate as possible.  
  
“You know, back at the base we have communal showers. Even in training we did. I have to shower with other butt naked men all the time. And a lot of them are ugly too.”  
  
Levi let out a weak chuckle. “That sounds pretty bad.”  
  
“Yep. One of them is always trying to flex his abs. But it doesn’t do much for him with his face. This one time a horse tried to mate with him because she thought he was a part of her species.”  
  
Levi laughed more willingly at that. “No way! You’re just making that up.”  
  
“I swear! He looks just like a horse, someday I’ll show you.” Eren beamed.

_Good. At least I was able to get him to lighten up a bit. _

Levi shifted his body to assist Eren in his scrubbing. Eren continued to wash away the dirt marks revealing more pale skin. He went down his back to make his way down towards his legs but had to stop at the rear. He persistently tried to rub away at a spot of dirt, but it wouldn’t seem to come off.  
  
“Uh, I can’t believe I have to say this but, will you quit wiping my butt? This is already weird enough.”  
  
“Sorry about that but it’s just not coming off.” Eren lathered the towel with soap and went back to try again.  
  
“You mean…my _birthmark_?” Levi raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Oh.” Eren stared blankly. “_Oh_. That’s your birthmark?”  
  
“Yeah, genius.”  
  
Eren took another look at the spot, indeed it was a part of his skin. So Levi had a birthmark on his bum. Another fun fact Eren never expected to find out about.  
  
“It looks kind of like a peach.” Eren said.  
  
“I’m aware.”  
  
“You have a peach on your peach.”  
  
“That was so lame.” Levi splashed some water in Eren’s face. He chuckled and continued to lather soap in his hands. He started massaging his fingers on the boys scalp, washing away the grease. As he observed his hair a thought occurred to him. It’s practically the same hairstyle his captain has nearly 20 years in the future.

“Hey Levi, who cuts your hair?”  
  
“I do it myself.”  
  
“Who taught you how to do that?”  
  
There was a small pause before he responded. “Kenny.”  
  
_Ah, right. That guy._

“How come you always style it like this?”  
  
“I just think it looks cool. Also I like the way the breeze feels on the sides,” he smiled.  
  
“You don’t ever feel like changing it?”  
  
“Nope, it’s fine this way.”  
  
“Hmm…I’ve been thinking of growing my hair out longer, what do you think?”  
  
“I think you’d look more annoying than usual.”  
  
“Great. Exactly what I was going for.” Eren mused. He finished massaging the boys scalp and began rinsing the soap out of his hair.  
  
“You’re right though, it’s a nice hairstyle. Makes you look handsome.”  
  
“Pfft, yeah sure.”  
  
“I mean it! I bet when you’re older you’ll be a hit with the ladies.”  
  
“Ewww. Gross! Shutup.” Levi’s ears turned red once again.

Eren burst out laughing. “Awww Levi, you’re so adorable I swear.”

“No I’m not…”  
  
“Yes you are. You’re the most adorably adorable kid I know.” Eren said in a funny voice as he pinched Levi’s cheeks.  
  
“Knock it off, dude!” he whined as he splashed some more water in Eren’s face, still blushing.  
  
Levi didn’t understand Eren. Adults had called him a lot of things before. ‘Bastard child’ and ‘son of a bitch’ come to mind. ‘Runt’ and ‘brat’ were more tamer terms. ‘Snot-nosed’, ‘good for nothing’, ‘little rat’, ‘better off dead’, the list goes on and on. But cute? Adorable? No one ever said anything like that about him before. Levi wondered why Eren was so weird.

“Well, I do like my eyes.”  
  
Eren’s ears perked up at the sound of that and he stopped what he was doing. “What did you say, Levi?”  
  
“I like my eyes. They’re just like mom’s.”  
  
Eren smiled warmly. “Well they’re beautiful eyes and I’m sure your mother was a beautiful woman.”  
  
“She really was! She was amazing. Her hair was so long and shiny. And she was always nice to everybody and had a great smile! Ooh and she had a really pretty singing voice, she was like the princesses from those stories!” Levi excitedly raved about his mother’s qualities with a distinct glow in his eyes. It was Eren’s first time hearing him talk about her. He never touched upon the subject worried it might upset Levi, but he was glad to hear that there was at least one positive figure in this kids’ life. Someone he really cared about and evidently cared about him too.

“He called her a whore.”  
  
“Hm?”  
  
“The guy I beat up at the market today. I did it because he called her a whore. I don’t care that much when people say stuff about me, but I can’t stand it when they say something about my mom.”

Eren felt anger build up inside him again. He was certain if he saw the guy again, he was going to end up giving him a beating himself.  
  
“Well, he’s a stupid jackass and his words mean shit.” He said as he angrily lathered more soap in his hands.  
  
“Yeah…”  
  
Eren took a glance at Levi’s face. He wasn’t sure if it was the soap, but his eyes were beginning to water and look puffy. “Levi, you okay?”  
  
“I…shouldn’t be here.” His voice started to crack.  
  
“Huh? What do you mean?”  
  
“My mom should be the one who lived. Not me. She was so perfect and I’m just a good for nothing shit.” Tears began to stream down his face. He hiccupped as he tried to force himself to not cry.  
  
“I don’t understand, why would you say that?”  
  
“I’m the reason she died! She couldn’t take care of both of us. She always gave me food and wouldn’t eat anything herself. She always made me feel better when I was sick but when she was sick I couldn’t do anything for her. That’s why she died! Because I was so useless. She should’ve just taken care of herself.” Levi clenched his teeth trying to not let the sobs escape his mouth. His eyes were red and nose were red and his breath erratic.

Eren finally understood what it was about Levi that felt so wrong. The strange reaction to the suggestion to cleaning the house, the opposition to change, the violent outbursts and flippant attitude towards his environment. This kid had no ambitions, no goals, no dreams, no desire for anything more than what he had and it was all because he felt like he didn’t even deserve whatever he did have. His stomach sank, this was wrong. He wasn’t sure what the right thing to say would be but, there was no way who could let this continue.  
  
“So, what your saying is, your mom was stupid?” Eren deadpanned.  
  
“What? How dare you! Why would you say that?” Levi yelled back, tears still streaming down his face.  
  
“She was stupid, wasn’t she?”  
  
“No she wasn’t!”  
  
“If she wasn’t stupid then why did she take care of you? Why did she sacrifice her own needs to make sure that you stayed alive? If she was smart, she would have known you were useless right?”  
  
Levi was speechless, his mind blank with shock. He wanted to argue back but didn’t know what to say to that.  
  
“The way I see it there could only be two reasons why your mother did what she did. Either she was stupid or she saw just how amazing you were.”  
  
Levi’s eyes widened, still unable to respond to what Eren just said.  
  
“Your mom must have been so smart that she was able to see what great things you could do, how incredible you were and how adorable too. She must’ve been smarter than everyone else, way smarter than you. And that’s why she decided to let you live.”

Levi couldn’t believe what he just heard. Eren really was perhaps the weirdest person he had ever met. He said the mushiest crap he ever heard, but he said it with such sincerity it would just leave him bewildered. He wanted to argue back, he wanted to tell Eren he was wrong. But, how could he? After all, his mother was not stupid. Levi let out a small chuckle as he wiped the tears from his face. Eren really was something else.  
  
“I think I’m starting to get what you’ve been trying to tell me.” He sniffled.  
  
Eren beamed pridefully. He must have said something right. Finally, he was starting to get through to him. He grabbed a wet towel to give Levi one final rinse before ending the bath.  
  
“But Eren, how do I know? How do I know that you are right? That I really am special like my mom thought I was.”  
  
“That’s simple. You are special.” Eren stared straight into Levi’s eyes. “You’re special because you were born into this world.”  
  
Levi’s eyes glimmered. Something about the weight of those words kindled a flame inside of him. He didn’t fully understand what Eren meant but somehow the answer was enough to satisfy him.  
  
“Well what do you think? Did that sound deep and dramatic?”

Levi splashed water Eren’s way one last time. “It did but you ruined it.”

Eren laughed as he finished up the bath. Levi dried himself off with a towel and got dressed. He felt refreshed as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his body. His body felt cool as air moved against his damp skin. He kept sniffing himself, pleased with how he now smelt of flowery soap. Eren ruffled his hair.

“Take more care of yourself, kid. After all, you have your mother’s eyes. It would be a shame if the world lost that.”

After dinner and some lighthearted chatter, it was time to go to bed. They said their goodnights, but Levi found it difficult to fall asleep. This time however it wasn’t constipation. He felt refreshed with newfound energy. Eren’s attempt at being ‘deep’ might have felt cheesy but it resonated with him. Levi wondered maybe he was worth something more after all.


	6. Chapter 6

_It’s been ten days since I’ve been here. Or maybe eleven?_

Somewhere in the middle of it all Eren stopped counting and then lost track entirely. But he was nearing the end of his second week stuck in the past. Staying this long was not part of his plan. It’s been fun but he was getting restless. He wondered what was happening back at home while he was gone. What if Titans had broken further into the walls and attacking the civilians? What if Annie had broken out of her crystal? What if Reiner and Bertholdt had returned? Was Captain Levi mad about him not being there to clean the storage room? Probably. The more he thought about it the more anxious he felt to get back home. He wondered if he should just forget about the key and go back to his own time and figure out what to do from then. Of course, there was also the question of how to go back. He didn’t know how he got here in the first place. He also didn’t know when he ended up on the ground.

“1…2…3…I win!”

Levi released Eren’s arms from the lock he had him under. Eren laid on the ground for a moment trying to process what had just happened. Distracted by his own thoughts he didn’t even realize when the kid had knocked him down. He got off the ground and dusted his pants while Levi did a little victory dance.  
  
“I beat you! I beat a real soldier in hand to hand combat! I’m stronger than you now! How does it feel, huh?”  
  
“Heh, you seem awfully proud for someone who won once out of like what, four hundred rounds? Did you forget how many times I kicked your butt?”  
  
“That’s in the past. You’re just a sore loser.”  
  
“More like you’re just a sore winner.”

Levi stuck out his tongue to mock Eren and the latter reciprocated the gesture. This was beginning to become a common part of their communication. They went back inside the house, but not before wiping their feet. This was a new rule that Levi introduced when one day Eren mistakenly tracked mud on the floor right after they had finished mopping. He got an earful of a lecture and a couple of swings to the butt from the boy’s broom. Eren wondered if he should have gotten Levi a more orthodox gift, like a stuffed animal, something that couldn’t double as a weapon.

The day went by as usual. They rationed some of the bread for lunch along with some of the remaining milk. Or was it just water this time? Eren wasn’t sure. He was not mentally present and could not recall much of what happened through the day at all. His body went along with it, but his mind was still caught up in thoughts of getting back home.  
  
“Yo, space cadet!”. Eren was broken out of his thoughts from the sound of Levi snapping his fingers in front of his face. He sat upright on the mattress to refocus his attention to the little one.  
  
“S-sorry, you were saying?”.  
  
“I asked you if you could get the power to read everyone’s mind but that also meant everyone could read your mind, would you do it?”.  
  
“Uh...I guess not?”

“Yeah, me too. What’s with you today? You keep spacing out.”  
  
“I’m fine.”  
  
“Are you in love?”

“No.”

“Did you kill someone?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Is it gas?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“What is it then?”  
  
“Were those your only guesses? I guess I’m just thinking about home you know. It’s been a while now.”  
  
“Ah well…yeah I guess so.” Levi laid back on his cushions to relax.  
  
“But I still need the key…”  
  
“Hmm…”  
  
“Honestly I’m thinking maybe I should just leave without the key? I don’t know how long I can stay here they need me back up there.”  
  
“Well I don’t know about that. I mean I’m sure they have plenty of other soldiers. Besides I’ve been thinking, don’t you think it’s better down here?”  
  
“Huh. What do you mean?” Eren raised an eyebrow  
  
“Well I know it’s not great but, it’s gotta be better than risking your life everyday fighting titans, right? Down here all you need to worry about is thugs. Plus, if we stick together, I think we can get by just fine for food and supplies. We can find ways to get money.”  
  
Eren chuckled “Yeah that sounds nice, but I need to go back. There are people waiting for me, stuff I gotta do. There’s a reason I joined the Survey Corps.”  
  
“You won’t even consider it?”  
  
“No, sorry.”  
  
“Fine. I guess that settles it then.” Levi got back up to face Eren before he continued. “I’m coming with you.”  
  
“Huh?”

“To the surface. I’ll come with you.”  
  
Eren just stared silently for a moment. Levi seemed serious about this and he wasn’t really sure how to explain to him that he simply cannot do that.  
  
“Levi…I can’t take you with me…”  
  
“You don’t have to worry about me it’s not like I want you to adopt me or whatever. Once I’m up there I can take care of myself and when you’re not busy saving the world we can hang out.”  
  
“That does sound nice but I really can’t take you up there.”  
  
“Don’t worry, you’re a military guy. For you sneaking me up those stairs will be a piece of cake, they won’t question you as much. I could probably hide inside a giant bag and you could carry me up there.”  
  
“No, Levi. I can’t do that.”  
  
“Okay maybe that’s not the best plan but we can think of something else, piece of cake.”

“Levi you’re not listening! I can’t. I just cannot take you with me. I’m sorry.”  
  
“Why not? Why can’t I come with you? I told you I wasn’t gonna be a burden.” Levi’s voice sounded agitated, Eren could tell he was beginning to get upset.  
  
“I know. But it’s not that. I just can’t. It’s impossible.”

“Why is it impossible?”  
  
“It’s complicated…”  
  
“Complicated? I don’t see what’s so complicated. What are you just going to leave me down here? Alone?”  
  
“I’m sorry…” Eren felt ashamed. Under normal circumstances he would have loved to help the kid escape, but these weren’t normal circumstances. Levi could feel the hot tears welling up in his eyes.  
  
“You’re the one who told me that I was special. That I deserved more than to just be stuck down here. That I should survive. And now you’re telling me to stay down here forever?”  
  
“I can’t take you with me but that doesn’t mean you’ll stay down here forever! I know someday you’ll make it to the surface all on your own-”

“Bullshit! How could you possibly know that for sure? For all you know I could just die down here! But I guess you don’t care about that.”  
  
“Levi I-”

“I thought you were my friend! But I guess that was my mistake, you were only hanging out cause of your stupid key!” Levi rummaged through the inner pocket of his jacket. “Well you want it back so bad. Here’s your damn key!”

He tossed the golden object towards Eren and ran out the door. For Eren it was as if time stopped. He couldn’t believe it. The key he was waiting for this whole time. The key that he dreaded would never return was now in his hands.  
  
_Did he have it with him? The whole time?_

He felt a mix of emotions wash over him. He felt cheated and was furious about that. But he also felt guilty and worried. He wondered if Levi thought he was being too cruel. Eren knew that the boy would grow up to escape to the surface and become the strongest soldier in the Survey Corps, but Levi didn’t know that. He was also relieved. Finally, he had the key back, now could try to go back to his own time. Nothing was there to hold him back. Well, almost nothing.  
  
_Little brat._  
  
He wore the key around his neck and ran out the door to follow Levi.

\---

Further from the town’s center was a tunnel dimly lit with gaslights. As Eren ventured inside towards Levi’s direction he passed by grim, unmoving figures sat by the walls. They felt more like empty husks, people that had giving up moving forward and decided that this was now their permanent home. As he moved further inwards the walls became less defined and transitioned into a natural rocky cave. At the end of the tunnel was Levi sitting on an elevated piece of land, arms folded around his legs. Beside him was a stream of water flowing out of the gutters and shimmering in the moonlight.  
  
_Wait. Moonlight?_

Eren looked above him and saw there was no ceiling here. A gaping hole allowed clear view of the night sky, something which Eren now realized he had grown to miss. The outside felt so close as if one could simply reach out their arm to grab it. How easily any one of these people could climb out of the cave, but on the side were MPs probably waiting to arrest them for it. It made the view beautifully tragic.  
  
“This is a nice spot. You’ve been holding out on me.” Eren began cautiously to not startle the boy. Levi however was already aware of Eren’s presence.  
  
“Yeah it is. I always thought the sky looked really big from here. But now it feels small.” He paused for a moment. Eren was surprised at the calm tone, he was expecting the kid would still be mad.

“How big does the sky look from outside, Eren?”  
  
“Much bigger, it never ends.”  
  
“Hmm.” He stared at the sky for a moment, his eyes glistening as if to mimic the stars that looked down on him. Then he whispered, “I’m sorry.”  
  
“Huh?”

“I’m not mad at you. I guess I’m just embarrassed. I’m mad at myself.”  
  
“You’re really not angry at me?” Eren said as he sat down next to Levi  
  
“Nope. Are you mad? I lied to you after all.”  
  
“Yeah.” Eren held the key in his hand. “What was that about? How long were you keeping this?”  
  
“I actually shat it out like 4 days after you got here.”  
  
For a moment Eren had actually forgotten where the key had been and now that he remembered he quickly took it off his neck and placed it on the side, staring at it with repulsed eyes.  
  
“Relax. I washed it like a million times.” He rolled his eyes and sighed. “I was going to give it back but…I kept putting it off. I just wanted to make sure you stuck around long enough to teach me your fighting techniques, the free food was nice too, and then…” his voice began to trail off. Eren listened intently to every word.  
  
“I don’t blame you for not taking me with you, I know you can’t and it’s not like you promised me or anything. I’m just really stupid sometimes.”  
  
“Why do you think you're stupid?”  
  
“No one ever told me they were going to stay forever, Eren. No one ever does. But I always end up assuming they might.”

Eren felt those words rip apart at his heart. He never considered how the death of his mother and Kenny’s abandonment could have left Levi damaged. And here he was about to do the same thing to him again. Eren knew the pain all too well. He of all people knew that no one ever sticks around that long. Not long enough. There was some silence between the two as they both gazed at the stars. Eren wasn’t sure what to say, but he knew he needed to say something.  
  
“Do you know about the ocean, Levi?”  
  
“No. What’s that?”  
  
“It’s this huge body of water. Massive. Bigger than any lake or river you’ll find within the walls. Like the sky it feels like it never ends. It’s the home for millions and millions of fish and it has so much salt that a merchant could try to collect it his whole life but still not deplete all of it.”

“Is that…real?” Levi raised an eyebrow.  
  
“I hope so. My friend told me about it. It’s his dream to see it someday and I want to be there with him when he does. When he told me about it that’s when I started to feel like I was caged. I’m a part of this world and I deserve to be able to see and experience everything it has to offer. Not to live behind these walls and cower in fear for the rest of my life. That’s not living. That’s why I joined the Survey Corps, that’s why I fight against the titans and that’s why I must go back. Some people back at home even call me a suicidal maniac.” Eren chuckled.  
  
“They might be on to something.” Levi gave a weak smile. “But I think that you’re right.”  
  
“What about you, Levi? What’s your dream?”  
  
“My dream?”  
  
“Yeah, there must be something right.”  
  
“Right now…” Had Eren asked this question on the day he first arrived Levi probably wouldn’t have had answer. He might have just said it was ‘to eat something other than stale bread for a day’. But now things were different. “…I want to go up to the surface. I want to see what the sky looks like from up there.”  
  
“Oh, and then what?”

“What do you mean? That’s it, that’s my dream.”  
  
“That can’t be it, what are you going to do once you reach the surface?”  
  
“You keep saying that like you’re so sure I’m going to be able to.”  
  
“Trust me, you will,” Eren smiled. “Is there really nothing you want to do after you get up there?”  
  
“What about you then? What are you going to do after you’ve seen the ocean and freed humanity or whatever.”

“Maybe I’ll grow a beard.”  
  
“Seriously?”  
  
“Yeah a super long one.”  
  
“You’ll look terrible.”  
  
“Maybe I’ll braid it too.”  
  
“Ew what? You’re so weird!” Levi laughed hysterically. Eren smiled, at least he managed to cheer the boy up. He didn’t pry him anymore on what he wanted to do after he reached the surface. He had plenty of time to figure that out. They laid in the cave for some time admiring the night sky in silence.  
  
“Somewhere up there,” Eren began again, “is an angry little man waiting for me. He probably isn’t too happy about me skipping out on cleaning day.”  
  
“An angry little man?”  
  
“Yep. I’m going to be in trouble I think.”  
  
“Well then, you should be going back then. Wouldn’t want to keep him waiting. You have the key now so you can leave.”  
  
Levi was right, Eren could try to leave now. He pondered over the idea and reached inside his pocket. He took out the last of the money he had and began mentally counting. Then his eyes lit up.  
  
“I’m not going to leave right now,” Eren smiled. “There’s still one last thing I have to do."


	7. Chapter 7

Levi woke up the next morning back at home. He had a five-minute mental debate on whether he should get up or go back to sleep. Hunger pangs settled the matter quickly. He wiped the sleep dust from his eyes and observed the room. It was more quiet than usual, and he saw Eren wasn’t in his bed. He got up and knocked on the bathroom door. The door creaked open revealing no occupants inside. He went to check outside the front door but still no sign of him. That could only mean one thing, Eren was already gone.  
  
Levi went back inside and sat on the tattered mattress. He had already accepted that Eren was going to leave soon but he didn’t quite expect it to be so abrupt. This was just like last time. He figured perhaps it was for the best. A goodbye might have just felt awkward, Eren probably felt the same way. Cutting ties like ripping off a band-aid, quick and easy. At least now he could sleep in his old bed like he used to. But it had been a while since he didn’t have company and had grown accustomed to Eren’s constant chattering. He wondered what he should do now.  
  
The sound of the front door opening broke his train of thought. By reflex he reached for the dagger hidden away in his jacket and stood up prepared to pounce over whoever dared to break into his home.  
  
“Whoa! Calm down it’s just me!”

It was Eren. Levi sighed with relief and plopped back on the mattress to recover from the adrenaline rush.  
  
“Shit Eren, you nearly gave me a heart attack. You’re still here?”  
  
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Eren asked as he closed the door behind him.  
  
Levi felt the answer to that should have been obvious. He wondered why Eren had not left yet, was he not eager to get back home?  
  
“Where were you?”

Eren smiled mischievously “I went to buy something. It took a while to find but I managed to get it at a price I could afford. I think you’ll like it.”  
  
“For me again? Is it more cleaning stuff cause I think I have enough.”  
  
“Nope, even better.” Eren handed over Levi a box wrapped in red ribbon and purple wrapping paper that read…

“Happy Father’s Day?”  
  
“Uh, it was the only wrapping paper they had.”  
  
“Gee, thanks. You didn’t have to wrap it.” Levi observed the box carefully judging its size and weight. He shook it a bit to try and guess what was inside.  
  
“Careful!” Eren said.  
  
“Why?” Levi raised an eyebrow at the box. “Is this gonna blow up or something?”

“No! Come on just open it quickly!” Eren pleaded with excitement.  
  
Levi gave Eren a skeptical look before tearing the wrapping off the box. He carefully opened the lid and peered inside. Immediately his face lit up and he let out an audible gasp.  
  
“No way!” he exclaimed.  
  
“Yes way.”  
  
“I can’t believe this!”  
  
“Believe it baby.”  
  
“You got me a new tea set!”  
  
Inside the box were four white porcelain cups with blue flowers painted on along with matching saucers and a tea pot. There was also a square tin box inside.  
  
“It came with tea leaves.” Eren said as he reached for the tin. “The good kind. I figured maybe we could have a cup before I leave. How about it? I’ll brew it.”

\---

Eren measured out the tea leaves into the pot while waiting for the water in the kettle to boil. He would often be given the task of brewing tea for Captain Levi back home so luckily, he knew just about how much to use. He looked back at Levi who was sitting admiring his new cups. It cost Eren pretty much all the remaining money he had left on him but it was worth it.  
  
“Hey Levi, why do you like tea so much?”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Well, you know. Tea is kind of an old people thing, kids your age don’t really like drinking this stuff and they certainly don’t fawn over ceramic tea sets.”  
  
“Are you making fun of me?”  
  
“Haha no, I’m just curious really!” Eren said as he poured the hot water in the teapot.  
  
“Tea is like the perfect drink! It tastes good and it’s nice and warm so it’s great on a cold day. It calms the nerves and helps you relax…”  
  
“Ah I see…”  
  
“It has a lot of health benefits too! Like it’s really good for the immune system…”  
  
“Right, I get.”  
  
“The digestive system too. It helps make sure your shits are regular and don’t come out all runny…”

“I said I got it, gramps! Enough information!”  
  
“Also, it makes me feel fancy.” 

“Fancy, huh?” Eren mused as he poured hot water into the pot. He carried it to Levi and cleared his throat. “Ahem, your royal highness. For your morning banquet, may I present you with the finest chamomile tea brewed from plants nurtured on the fertile plains beyond Wall Sina and sifted in powdered gold.” He spoke with an accent mimicking the aristocrats he had seen in the inner walls. “May I pour you a cup, sir?” he said as he bowed.  
  
Levi laughed at the ridiculousness but decided to play along. “Very good my servant. Pour yourself a cup too and remind me of my activities for today.” He lifted his cup to Eren, holding it with his hand clasping over the rim and with his pinky outstretched.  
  
“You’re still holding it like that? It’s not broken.”  
  
“Yeah but I don’t trust handles anymore, it’s better like this.”  
  
“Very good, sir.” Eren poured tea in both the cups and sat down. “Today you have fencing lessons, followed by violin practice and then I shall run the royal milk bath for you.”  
  
“A milk bath?”  
  
“But of course! What better way to utilize milk than to use it to keep your royal highness’ heiny shiny? We can’t have the filthy commoners waste it by drinking it all up.”

They both laughed and took a sip of the tea.  
  
“Is this tea not the most delectable, sir? Does it meet your standards?” Eren asked.

“Why yes, the tea has been brewed most magnificently and the chamomile is positively…arithmetic!”  
  
“I don’t think that word means what you think it does, but thanks.” chuckled Eren.

“I mean it though. I’ve never had tea that tasted this good before.” Levi’s eyes gleamed. This may have been the first time he had proper tea as opposed to diluted concoction he was used to.

They sat together and talked about random things. Levi told Eren about the time an MP was chasing him for picking his pocket and the wind blew his toupee off. Eren told Levi about his trainee days and his friends.  
  
“And then she ate the potato, right in front of him!”

“Are you serious? Yet they call _you_ the suicidal maniac?”  
  
“I know right! Honestly, I’m one of the smart ones.”  
  
They laughed, made stupid jokes and sipped tea till the pot was empty. There were no tears, no hard feelings and no judgements. Neither thought about how they would soon part ways. They simply enjoyed each other’s company and forgot about all their problems. Eren felt like he could get used to teatime.

\--

“Well I’ll be going now; it’s been fun being your captive. Strange but fun.” Eren said as he walked through the front door.  
  
“You sure you’ll be okay? Do you need me to take you to the stairs at least?”  
  
“Nah, I’m taking a little detour.” He ruffled Levi’s hair earning a light slap to the wrist from the boy. “Listen, if someday you reach the surface and become a captain in the survey corps and one of your cadets is a handsome young man with the power to turn into a titan, go easy on him.”  
  
“Uh, what? Man, you really are weird.”

Eren chuckled, “Well, goodbye.”  
  
“Yeah, bye.” Levi responded reticently.

Eren gave a small wave and began walking away from the house, he turned to look at the boy who meekly waved back. They finally said their farewells and Eren was on his way back home. He began calculating his plan for how to return to his own time.  
  
“Eren wait!”

“Hm, what is it?” He turned around to see the young boy scampering his way towards him. Without warning little arms wrapped tightly around his waist.  
  
“Thank you,” whispered Levi.  
  
“For what?”  
  
“For saying goodbye.”  
  
_Oh my god, he’s so adorable._

Eren crouched down to meet Levi at eye level and reciprocated the hug. The kid buried his face into Eren’s shoulder. Eren could feel the wetness from slight tears on his shoulder, he decided to stay like that for a minute and allow the boy to let it all out.  
  
“Eren, I’ve made up my mind. After I come up to the surface, I’m going to open my own tea shop.” Levi said in between sniffs, his voice muffled from the tight embrace.  
  
_A teashop? So that’s Captain Levi’s childhood dream?_

Eren wondered if the captain still wanted to open a teashop once he retired from the military. It seemed like such a humble and modest occupation. It would be funny to see him work in the service industry though. Eren could imagine Captain Levi yelling at customers for ordering the wrong kind of tea or not knowing how to drink it properly. Eren couldn’t help but audibly giggle at the thought.  
  
“Hey, why is that funny?” Levi whined.  
  
“Sorry, it’s not. It’s just that it suits you well, Levi. I can totally imagine you owning a teashop,” Eren beamed.  
  
“Promise me that you’ll come too.”  
  
“Do I get a discount?”  
  
“Only if you work for me too.”  
  
“Sounds like a plan.”  
  
In that embrace, Eren felt like any wall that existed between them had been reduced to rubble. There was a warmth radiating from him which Eren couldn’t sense before. This Levi trusted Eren enough to share all his emotions, thoughts, ideas and insecurities. And Eren could do the same with him. This boy had opened his world to Eren and the latter felt like he could comfortably be a part of it.

Eren thought back to the Levi of his time. The distant figure he knew next to nothing about. The compassionate Captain that wanted no empathy from others. Despite being such an important role model for Eren he had an aura too intimidating for Eren to try and get close. Did he have the same emotions as this child? The same aspirations and the same vulnerabilities? Eren wondered if he could break down those barriers in the past, then why not the present? Perhaps he could get this person to invite him into his world.  
  
_Maybe Captain Levi just needs a hug._

Levi pulled from the embrace first and wiped his eyes. “Oh uh, and thanks for the gifts too,” he smiled.

“My pleasure. See you later.” Eren once again set off walking away from the house. He looked back and continuously waved in Levi’s direction until he turned the corner and the house was finally out of sight.

\---

Time travel was not a skill that Eren inherently knew how to use, but he was a man with the plan. In his titan experiments with Hange they would often come across successful results which were caused by flukes or accidents. Eren learned how to shift and use his titan powers all the same way, by recalling his actions and repeating them exactly as he carried out. Therefore, in theory, if Eren did exactly what he did to travel back in time, he should be able to go back to the present.  
  
If it wasn’t for Armin constantly being there as a comparison, Eren felt he could be considered a genius too.

He ventured back to the dark alley where Levi found him unconscious when he first arrived. First checking around to make sure no one was watching and took deep breaths to prepare for the hard part. He screamed to psyche himself up and charged straight for the wall without hesitation. He impacted headfirst and felt blinding pain, dizziness and finally darkness.  
  
_Mission Success._

_\---_

Eren awoke to the sound of a kettle whistling. He was lying on a sofa with a blanket draped over his body. He groaned as he tried to sit himself up and observe the surroundings. The pain in his head had mostly faded but he still felt lightheaded. He was in Captain Levi’s office. Then he remembered what had happened. He was cleaning the storage room when a box fell on his head, and then after that…  
  
_I guess it was all just a dream then._

“Well well, sleeping beauty finally woke up huh?”  
  
Eren’s head snapped in the direction of the voice. It was Captain Levi entering the room with a tray of tea and some biscuits. He placed the tray on the table and sat next to Eren.  
  
“You know Eren, I hope that you really are hurt. Otherwise I’ll just assume you used that little stunt of yours to sleep in on cleaning duty.” He said with an impassive face.  
  
“S-Sorry Captain…”  
  
“That was a joke Eren. You’re not actually hurt, are you? You were out for an hour at least.”  
  
“I’m fine, sir. The pain is mostly gone.” Eren gave a nervous smile.  
  
“That’s good then. Honestly when that box fell on your head, I got shit scared for a second that you’ll turn into a titan.” He said as he poured tea into the cups. “Here drink some you’ll feel better. Then later you can join your friends in the mess hall, it’s almost supper.”  
  
“Maybe just a little bit, I already had a lot of tea just now so I don’t think I can drink much more.”  
  
“What do you mean? When did you have tea? You were here in my office the whole time.”  
  
“Uh…in my dream, sir.”  
  
Levi gave Eren a blank expression and then snorted. “A dream? You won't have the tea I put the effort in brewing for you because you dreamt about a little tea party? You’re a weird kid, Eren.” Eren wasn’t sure if it was the drowsiness affecting his senses, but he could have sworn he saw a light smile appear on the captain’s face.

“Very well then, more for me.” Levi mused as he took a sip from his cup. Eren did not feel like drinking anything but figured it would be rude to turn down tea prepared by his squad leader and took a small sip himself.  
  
“So Eren, you wanted to ask me something?”  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“Before your incredibly comedic accident, you said you wanted to ask me something. Do you remember what it was?”  
  
Eren did remember. He wanted to get to know him better. Stuff like his hobbies, interests, dreams and pet peeves. He wanted to know more things about Levi’s past. Was he really forced to join the Survey Corps? What was his first expedition like? But previously Eren felt too nervous. Maybe this was why he had that strange dream. Maybe the dream was a sign that he should go ahead and try to get closer to Captain Levi. The intimidating aura he felt might just be in his head. Now Captain Levi was sitting here next to him and they were having tea just like in his dream. With a surge of confidence taking over him Eren decided to just go for it, like in his dream. It was time to bust down those walls.  
  
“Sir!” he shouted as he wrapped his arms around Levi. “I want to know more about you!”  
  
Levi choked on his tea and coughed. His arms stayed in midair for a few seconds as he tried to process the situation. Once he snapped out of it, he pried Eren’s arms off himself.

“What the hell, Eren. Why are you hugging me all of a sudden? You creepy brat!”  
  
Eren saw that Levi’s ears had turned red. He noticed that he was trying to keep his usual stoic expression, but was struggling to hide his embarrassment. It was kind of cute.  
  
“How hard did you hit your head? Honestly…”  
  
“Sorry, I did it without thinking,” Eren muttered.  
  
“What do you mean you wanna know more about me?”  
  
“Oh, I don’t know. Just some stuff? You don’t usually talk about yourself, so I was curious.”  
  
“I guess that’s true.” Levi narrowed his eyes and stared in his cup for a while deep in thought. “Alright then. We have time, ask me whatever you want.”  
  
“Really? Anything?” Eren asked with a sparkle in his eyes.  
  
“Yeah. But I must warn you, I’m actually a pretty boring guy.”  
  
This was great. Exactly what Eren wanted. He had permission to freely ask Captain Levi about literally anything. The possibilities were endless, but time was limited. He figured he probably only had a couple of minutes before it was supper time and Captain Levi told him to go away. He needed to make these few minutes count. This was an opportunity of a lifetime and he couldn’t mess this up.

“So uh...um…you like brooms, huh?”  
  
He messed it up.  
  
Levi gave him a deadpan stare. “I take back what I said earlier about me being boring, clearly I’m not the problem here. Really Eren? I gave you full reign to ask me anything. I thought you would ask me something like the secret to my strength or why I joined the Survey Corps. Maybe even something like my sex life or who I would rather, you know the stuff you teenagers like to talk about. But no, you decided to ask me if I like brooms.”  
  
“Um…It’s a start?”  
  
“The answer is yes, Eren. Yes, I like brooms. I like them because they are multipurpose. I can use them to dust the floor and beat up dumbasses like you.”  
  
Eren felt stupid for asking such a ridiculous question and figured it was probably for the best if he just kept his mouth shut. The silence that followed made things even more awkward, he just wanted to get out of the room now. Maybe he and Levi weren’t meant to get closer after all.  
  
“Its funny you should mention brooms though, if I recall one of the first gifts I received was a broom. That probably explains why I’m so particular on cleanliness.”  
  
_Wait. What._

Captain Levi’s first gift was a broom, just like in Eren’s dream. Or at least Eren thought it was a dream. A broom wasn’t exactly a common present, it couldn’t have been merely a coincidence.  
  
_Did I actually go back in time?_

“A broom is a weird thing to gift someone, how old were you? Who gifted it to you?”  
  
“It was a long time ago. Maybe I was ten? I’m not entirely sure. I don’t remember the person very well.”  
  
The age matched almost perfectly with Eren’s story. He felt his heart race at the prospect of his time travel ability being real.

_I really went back to the past and met the kid version of Captain Levi? In the flesh?_

“You don’t remember anything about the person who gifted it to you? Nothing at all?”  
  
“Jeez Eren, why the sudden fascination with that? It was a long time ago and my memory isn’t that great. It was some crazy guy I found on the street, I only knew him for a week or two. He was nice to me though I remember him being weird. I think is name was...Aaron.”

_That's painfully close. Also I thought I had left a better impression than that._

Eren let out an exasperated sigh. He was certain this “Aaron” was him but with Levi not remembering much he wasn’t sure just how he could prove this hypothesis to be true. In the end it all could be just a coincidence. Unless he could think of something from his trip to the past. Something he learned about Levi that was concrete, solid evidence. Something that he would have no way of knowing about unless he really travelled back in time.  
  
“If we’re done with this strange, underwhelming interview, I suggest you get off your ass and go to the mess hall already.”  
  
_That’s it! The birthmark!_

“Captain Levi!” Eren shouted as he shot up from the sofa and clasped Levi’s hand. Levi was taken aback by the sudden call of his name. He stared with wide, perplexed eyes at the intense emerald orbs. Eren was acting strange. Usually Levi didn't have a hard time trying to read the situation, but Eren was suddenly asking him weird questions and getting more touchy than he was accustomed to. And now Eren was holding his hand in his office, while they were alone, piercing his soul with his gaze. Levi didn't know what to expect next and this worried him. Yet it felt exciting. He could feel the heat spreading from his ears to his cheeks and his heart began to race at Eren's touch.

“Can I see your butt?”

Eren was never allowed to ask Captain Levi any questions again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've reached this point then...wow. You actually read my whole fic. Thankyou so much it means a lot, I really hope that you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. T-T


End file.
